Sundari and Kali Glory to the padukas of Guru guiding us in the forest of ignorance The first of the dasa

maha vidyas is Kali, also known as AdyA, dakshiNakAlikA or vidyArAgynI. The third is Sundari who is known as tripurasundarI, shOdasI, or srividyA. The seer or rshi of the former is mahAkAlA bhairavA and the latter is AnandabhairavA / dakshiNAmOrthy. The meter of chanting is ushNik and gAyatrI respectively. The traditions declare two types of routes for the aspirant, the kali kulam and the sundari kulam. The tantras declare that the Primordial power when seen on the left is sundari and on the right is kali- vAme sundari dakshiNe kAlikA. Vama can mean left and also beauty, creative urge (as referred by vamana- vomiting- the world from the dissoluted state (laya)creative urge). dakshiNa can mean right and also skill / strength and fee (as in havana dakshina- the completion of any ritual is after offering the fee- dakshina- the last activity of the ritual hence will signify an end.). Hence sundari is attributed to creative urge with all the essence of beauty and kali to the end (annihilative force) with a fierce aspect. Since the matter is neither created nor destroyed it changes from one form to another, the cessation of a particular form is the annihilation and the emergence of another is the creation. Thus we find both have a common point to which one travels while the other emerges from it. This is an attempt to find the common grounds of the above deities. The form: The meditative verses of these two deities are examined. Kali: ShavArUdAm mahAbhImAm ghora damshtrAm hsaNmukhIm caturbhujAm khaDgamuNDavarAbhayakarAm shivAm muNDamAlAdharAm devIm lalajjihvAm digambarAm sadA sancintaye kalIm smashAnAlaya vasinIM Kali is meditated in the midst of a cemetery having a huge naked form with a dark hue, terrific fangs, standing on a corpse, having a sword, severed head, gestures of dispelling fear and granting desires in her hands, with her face filled with laughter, wearing garland of severed heads.

Sundari:

dhyaye kameshvarAnkasthAm kuruvindamaniprabhAm soNambarasrgalepAm sarvaNgInavibhUshitAm saundaryasevadhim seShupAshANkusojvalAm svabhAbhiraNimAdhyAbhisevyAm saravaniyAmikAm saccidAnandavapuSham sadayApANgavibhramAm sarvalokaika jananIM smerAsyAm lalitAmbikAm

Sundari the personification of beauty and bliss, the only mother of the three worlds, has a red hue, clothed with red garments, decorated with golden ornaments , seated on the lap of Siva kamesvara, holding a noose, goad, sugarcane bow and five flowery arrows, glancing with piety and a smile on her lips on the throne surrounded by animAdi devatas,
Though the differences between the above are very prominent, there is a subtle identity in the above.

Dark hue is absence of any color. The spectrum VIBGYOR represents the whole visible range. . Ultra violet or infra red will seem to us as black only. Violet, Indigo, Blue and green are the hues of Rajamatangi Devi; yellow is Mahavarahi Devis hue. Orange and Red are seen as sundari devis hue. In the Srividyopasana karma Matangi and Varahi are inherent in Lalitha, since they emerged from the Sugarcane bow and flowery arrows respectively. Hence from the above equivalence seen Sundaris hue may be taken as to represent the whole visible range. Thus continuance of Kali is Sundari as seen from ultraviolet to violet during creation and from Sundari to kali as seen from red to infra red during annihilation. . Both are full of joy hasan mukhIm in kali and smerAsyAm lalitAmbikAm for sundari, the expression is only different. Though kalis laughter is like a thunder clap- attahAsam while sundari has an Anandollasa vilAsa hAsam peals of joyful laughter. The same thunderous laughter of Kali that annihilates every thing becomes a gentle smile with change of form to Lalitha on commencement of creation.

Both have four arms. Sundari holds the noose and goad denoting the attractive- attraction to the undivided knowledge and repulsive- repulsion to the dual knowledge, states of mind, The sugarcane bow as the pure mind and the five flowery arrows denoting the world- these are held separate not connected hence the detachment from the state of doer can be envisaged. Kali displays gestures of removal of fear and granting boon denoting the removal of the notion of the other and thus bestowing bliss of undivided state of mind. The sword denotes the scriptures which help in the removal of ego which is shown as the severed head. Thus we can conclude the noose and goad are identical in function with the gestures of dispelling fear and granting boons and the sugarcane bow with arrow to the sword and the severed head. Both have a crown and a crescent of moon on their crown diadem, Crown is indicative of the royalty, as a consort of the Brahman both have names linked to it- viz., Mahaaragyni and vidyaaragyni. The crescent of moon is indicative of the consciousness at the highest level. The ear rings of Sundari is tatanka yugaleebhoota tapanodupamandalaa (sun/moon) and that of Kalika is bala shava yugama karnaavtamasa (young boys dead bodies). The first identity is that both of these ear ornaments are inert. Sun /Moon signify the vastness of the creation. Imagine that if they were the ear rings how big the body would be. The agama and nigama are likened to young boys and their death is symbolic of end of all knowledge during dissolution. The Lord of Kali and Sundari are Maha kala and Siva Kameshara respectively. Both are in eternal union with their consorts. MahakAla ratAture and siva kAmesvarAngkasthA describe this state. Both are identical to their consorts, are auspicious and blissful in nature. There is another meditative verse which unifies the above: samvartAnala kOTi nIradarucam pAshANkusumAshugAn khaDgam mundamabhamaikshvarIm varam hastAmbjujairaShtabhih kAmesAnasivOparisthitAm tryakshAm sadAvahantIm parAm srIcintAmaNibIjarAja vapuShIm dhyAye mahAshoDhasIm.

The mantra: Dakshina Kali mantra has 22 syllables made up of seven vowels (a+ aa+ i+ ii+ u+ e+M) and nine consonants (k+N+d+r+L+v+s+H+Ksh) totaling to sixteen (matrukaa shodasi); Sri vidya is of 15 syllables made up of four vowels (a+ii+E+M) and five consonants (k+ L+ r+ h+ s) totaling to nine (navaaksharee). In the Srividya kAdipancadasi mantra , the three ka and two ha letters pertaining to the Siva and the three hrIm are pertaining to both Lalitamba and Kameshvara, the rest are pertaining to Lalithamba. Similarly in the dakshina kalika mantra the four hUm are pertaining to the mahAkAlA, four hrIm to both MahakAkA and DakshiNa, and rest are pertaining to DaksiNa kali. Thus we find the hrIm kArAs representing the siva sakti union is there in both mantras, with rest distributed among the respective siva and sakti. The breakup of the mantra in to vowels and consonants will result in 37 parts in the srividya mantra, while dakshina kalika mantra will result in 84 parts. These will signify the 36 tattvas and the tattvaatiita parasiva in sundari and the myriad of 84 lakh entities including the tattvaatiita parasiva in Daksina kalika. Since dakshiNa is dissolution all the myriad entities are counted while Sundari is creation the tatvAs (Or basic building blocks) are enumerated. On seeing the vowel distribution in both mantras, it is unique to note that both mantras have the tattvaatiita parasiva indicated by the E kAra (yad EkAdasamAdhAram bIjam koNa trayotbhavam- the eleventh vowel is the base the substratum of creation). Dakshina has one akAra indicative of the Siva tattva (EkaivAham- Vedas) while Sundari has ten akAras, which signify the creation of various entities (bahusyAm prajAyeti). The vowel A signifying AnandA is there in DakshiNa, as shown in her meditative verse hasan mukhIm, also she is described as aTTahAsAm. Further there is another vowel i signifying the ichha sakti (will) in dakShiNa denoting that dissolution is by the divine will. The vowel I is seen both in Sundari and daKshiNa, denotes the IKshaNa the totality of view- which is required for both dissolution and creation. . The Four IkArAs in sundari will denote the four saprsha tattvas by which the whole world is first felt by the creation , since space is subtle the first solid creation which is felt is air. There are ten IkArAs in dakshiNa which shows her intent for dissolution in all directions. The Yantra: The yantra of sundari is the well known sricakra. The yantra has a bindu, trikona, astakona, two dasa kona, fourteen kona, eight and sixteen petals, and a bhupura- square with three lines; the

central figure consisting of triangles is formed by the intersection of four upward triangles and five downward triangles. Kalika has a yantra with bindu, five triangles- pointing downward, eight petals and a bhupura -square On a real time view the yantra of kalika can be mapped onto a sri yantra. Thus kalika is inherent in Sundari. There is a puja paddati wherein the sri yantra itself has Kalika attendant deities mapped onto it, Thus Sundari is inherent in Kalikaa. The Attending deities: The initial main worship in a pooja is to the laya anga devatas, they are a part of the central deity. Sundari and Kali have the layanga devatas in the same format. The sadanga devatas , thithi nitya devatas and the gurumandala are there for both. The vidyavatara guru mandala of nine gurus is there separate for each Devi. Thus the identity found here is the format of the pooja which have the same notation though there are varying deities. The Stotras: There are a set of 108, 1000 and 300 names asttotara satam, sahasranamam and trisati for both devis. There is a kavacam (armor) made of various variations of the mantras of the deity in both the system of worship, respectively called jaganmangala kavacam and trailokyamohana kavacam. Both have got the list of attendant deities called a khadagmala. (kahdga by katapayaadi samkhya is thirty two the suddha vidyaa tattva which is the unity of the world, creator and the self.) The kakAra kali sahsranAma called saamraajya medhaahas six names with the first (prathma) kUta of sundari from 498 to 503 name. There are names on the creative aspect like kaaraNaahvayaa (Cause of the creation), Kaha hetuh (Cause of the rise of the mantras), Kaamaa (primordial Creative urge). This shows clearly the identity of kAlikA and Sundari. The LalitAsaharanAma called rahasya naama sahasra has a name klIMkAri- ra and la being interchangeable this can also be read as krIm kAri; The name rasgynA is a direct reference to the krIm-kArA , since this bija akshara is denoted as rasa by many kali tantras. There are also direct names on annihilative aspect like mahaa kali, mahaa grasaa- the great (big) swallower, maha ashanaa- the great (big) devourer, layakaree(Cause of dissolution). These show the identity of Sundari and kAlikA.

The Trisati of both devatas are unique in that, they are made up of the names starting with the respective moola mantras; Daskhina Kali Trisati is called sarva manga vidyaa has fourteen names of the twenty two syllables totaling to three hundred and eight; Lalita trisati is called Sarva poortikara stava has twenty names for each of the fifteen syllables totaling to three hundred. The following name is exactly common in both sahasranamaas and Trisatis: 1. Kaantaa (DKSN 617) (LSN 329) (DKT-149)(LT- 154) The following names are common to both sahasranaamaa and Lalita Trisati 1. Kalyanee (DKSN 3) (LSN 324) (LT-2) 2. Kalavatee (DKSN 6) (LSN 327) (LT-6)
The following name is common in both trisatis and Lalita Sahasranaama 1. Hreem matih ( DKT- 268) (LT-88) (LSN-302) The following names are common in both sahasranamaas:

2. Kalaatmikaa (DKSN 9) (LSN 611) 3. Kapardinee (DKSN 377) (LSN 793) 4. Kalaa maalaa (DKSN- 390) (LSN 794) 5. Kalaa nidhih (DKSN 421) (LSN 797) 6. Kaashtaa (DKSN 477) (LSN 859) 7. Kaatyaayinee (DKSN -679) (LSN- 556) 8. Kaamaroopine (DKSN -769) (LSN 796) 9. Kuleshvaree (DKSN 837) (LSN-439) 10. Kurukullaa (DKSN 846) (LSN- 438) 11. Kootasthaa (DKSN882) (LSN 896) 12. Kushalaa (DKSN 869-886) (LSN-436) 13. Kaulinee (DKSN 984) (LSN( 94) The following names are common to Lalita Sahasranama and Dakshina Kalika Trisati 1. Svaadheena vallbhaa (LSN -54 ) (DKT- 282) 2. Svaahaa (LSN- 535) (DKT- 283) 3. Kaamaakshee (LSN- 62) (DKT- 147)
The following names are common in Dakshina Kalika sahsaranamaa and Lalita trisati

1. Kaameshee (DKSN- 600) (LT-143) 2. Kamalaakshee (DKSN -50) (LT -7)

3. Karabhoru (DKSN -381) (LT- 148) 4. Kamaneeyaa (DKSN 486) (LT- 5)

The following name is common in both Trisatis: 1. Hreem (DKT-270) (LT-99) The following names have some slight variations, found in the four said stotras:

1. Kadamba vana madhyagaa (DKSN 211)/ Kadamba vanaantasthaa (DKSN-218)= Kadamba vana vaasinee (LSN 60) = kadamba kaananaavaasaa (LT -10) 2. Kamalaaksha pra poojitaa (DKSN- 52)= Kamalaaksha nishevitaa (LSN-558)
3. Kadamba kusumaamodaa (DKSN- 212) = Kadamba kususma priyaa ( LSN -323 / LT 11) 4. Kalana (DKSN- 421) = Vigyaana kalanaa (LSN-902) 5. Kaamakalaa (DKSN- 609) = Kaamakalaa roopaa (LSN-322)

6. Kaameshee (DKSN-600) = Mahaakaamesha mahishee (LSN- 233)

7. Kaama roopaa (DKSN- 647) = Kaama roopinee (LSN-796) 8. Kaamadaa (DKSN- 706) = Kaama dayinee (LSN 63) 9. Kakaaraa (DKSN- 21) = Kakaara roopaa (LT-1) 10. Kanja netra (DKSN- 99) = Kanja locanaa (LT-16)

11. Kalee ( DKT-141)-Kaalikaa (DKT-148) Mahaakalee (LSN-751) 12. Kastoori tilakaananda (DKSN254) Kastoori tilaka priyaa (DKSN-255) = Kastoori tilakaancitaa
(LT160) 13. Kaakinee (DKSN 477) = Kaakinee roopa dhaarinee (LSN -513) 14. Karunaa (DKSN 23) = Karunaa rasa saagaraa (LSN- 326) 15. Dayaa (DKT-101) Dayaamoorthih (LSN 581) 16. Daksha yagynaghnee (DKT- 100) Dakshayagyna vinaashinee (LSN-923) 17. Dakshinaabhimukhee (DT- 105) Dakshinaamoorti roopinee (LSN- 725) 18. Kevalaananda roopinee (DKT-170) Kevalaa (LSN-623) 19. Kshipraprasaaditaa (DKT- 115) Kshipra prasaadinee (LSN- 869) 20. Haahaahoohvaadi gandharvagaanalaalasaa(DKT-306) Haa haa hoo hoo mukha stutyaa (LT-177) 21. Haanivrtyaadikaranaa (DKT-298) Haani vrddhi vivarjitaa (LT-178) 22. Kaala bhaira poojitaa (DKT- 145) Mahaa bhairapoojitaa (LSN- 231) Kaala poojyaa (DKSN-619) 23. Kaavyaamrta rasaanandaa (DKT-153) Kaavyaalapa vinodinee (LSN-613) Kavya lolaa (LT-242) 24. Svadhistaana padmasthaa (DKT-285) Svadhishtaanaambujagataa (LSN-504) 25. Kaamakoti vilaasinee (DKT- 154) Kaamakoti nilayaa (LT-259) Kaamakotigaa (LSN- 589) The following names are different, but mean the same in the said four stotras:

1. Karama trotana karee (DKSN-723) = Paramantra vibhedhinee (LSN-812) (Destruction of effects

of evil mantra prayogaas on the devotees)

2. Dakshaa (DKT- 106) Kushalaa (LSN- 436) (Skillful)